The Weavers--Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, and Lee Hays were America's first successful folk singing group. Pete Seeger praises the Weavermania! ensemble for its success at capturing the sound and spirit of the original group.
Weavermania! is:
* Michael Smith (Lee Hays, bass parts),
* Barbara Barrow (Ronnie Gilbert vocal parts),
* Chris Walz (Fred Hellerman's vocals, guitar),
* Mark Dvorak (Pete Seeger persona, banjo, vocals).
Barbara Barrow teaches voice and guitar at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. Vocalist/guitarist Chris Walz toured for four years with the acclaimed Special Consensus bluegrass band and was in the cast of Woody Guthrie's American Song, a theatrical production which toured nationwide for two years. Mark Dvorak, who plays banjo and guitar, is an award-winning recording artist who follows in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Art Thieme.
Michael Smith sings the bass parts of Lee Hays, and you know him as a songwriter, concert artist, and recording artist. Two of Smith's best-known songs, The Dutchman and Spoon River, have entered the pantheon of standard folk repertoire. He is also known as the composer of the musical score for The Grapes of Wrath, and Smith was a member of the original award-winning Steppenwolf Theatre cast, touring with that show for more than three years.
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